Mariners squander offensive opportunity, lose 2-1

The National League-worst San Diego Padres began a quick two-game series with the Mariners Tuesday night. In an incredibly disappointing contest, Seattle lost by a score of 2-1 while dropping another game in the postseason race.

If the season wasn’t over already, the Mariners needed a win tonight to have any hope in claiming a postseason spot. To be fair, they would essentially have to win out at this point. At 7.5 games behind Oakland for the second wild card position, Seattle needs to win out (yes, really) and the Athletics need to collapse at a historic pace. Instead, Oakland would secure a 3-2 win over Baltimore Tuesday and send the Mariners to 8.5 behind.

To put the disaster on Tuesday’s game into perspective, the Mariners scored one run. Versus the Padres. They left 9 men on base, including stranding the bases loaded in both the 2nd and 8th innings. In the 7th inning, Seattle had runners on 2nd and 3rd with 0 outs. Neither would score.

For the readers that want more encouraging information about the M’s, Marco Gonzales pitched well, allowing just four hits and a run over 5 innings. Shawn Armstrong, Nick Vincent and Alex Colome combined for 3 innings of one-hit baseball while striking out five.

Robinson Cano hit a solo home run in the 3rd inning to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead, but their only run of the night wasn’t enough to earn a win against the National League’s worst team. Ironically enough, Edwin Diaz was Seattle’s worst pitcher Tuesday night.

Though coincidental, it is astounding how Edwin Diaz has struggled in non-save situations. His win-loss record is 0-4, meaning that he has yet to hold a team scoreless in a tie game which lead to a Seattle win the following inning. However, he is 54/57 in save situations and has yet to lose a game when handed a one-run lead.

Unfortunately, tonight was not a save situation.

In a 1-1 game, Diaz allowed two singles to begin the 9th inning. After a strikeout, Wil Myers cranked a one-out double to the left-field wall that gave San Diego a 2-1 lead. He finished the inning, but damage had been done.

Seattle sent Zunino, Gordon, and Haniger to the plate needing a run to tie and two to win. They fell quietly in order as the Mariners would drop their third consecutive game to San Diego. On Wednesday, the Mariners will look to avoid being swept by the Padres twice this season. Wade Leblanc will take the mound for Seattle in a unique 3:40PT first pitch.